The invention relates to a transport vehicle for the transport of objects having large dimensions, especially low-platform railway cars which feature a long loading area that is built to fit the measurements of the rails and which also features low-set steering controls which are set in a distance to each other. The long loading area is bounded by a loading board on both sides and on its head side it features a connecting loading ramp which allows a short coupling with other low-platform railway cars.
Such transport vehicles could either be railway cars or freight trucks to transport glass sheet packages that measure a length of more than 6 meters and a height of more than 3 meters. Those glass sheet packages are set in an angle against an A-shaped or L-shaped glass stand and then they are taken by the especially designed transport vehicle. With freight trucks it is customary to arrange for U-shaped longitudinal carriers on the floor to correspond with the glass stands. The longitudinal carriers are shaped to also correspond with the according longitudinal carrier elements of the freight truck so that they can be loaded during, or better, after lowering the back part of the freight truck. Air bellows that correspond with the wheels are used for lifting or lowering, in order to lift and lower the back part of the freight truck towards the wheels. The corresponding longitudinal carriers on the frame feature fixating fixtures or stand fixing devices in order to support the glass stands which are set inside the freight truck or the glass sheet packages that rest upon the stands. Those fixtures are known from the DE-OS 35 16 914.1 whereas here, parallelogram struts are used which can be moved via a hydraulic cylinder. A disadvantage of those freight trucks is that they are road vehicles which can put pressure on the environment. Furthermore, practically only interior loading equipment in connection with an articulated vehicle can be used that are only suitable for the transport of such glass stands. As stated, such loading gear has limited use for transporting other goods or cannot be used for other goods at all. To comply with general efforts to transfer as many transports as possible onto the rail, low-platform railway cars were developed which can also transport freight trucks. Those freight trucks can be loaded with various goods including in theory articulated equipment with connected interior loading gear. If such low-platform railway cars shall receive or be loaded directly with those glass stands it is compulsorily necessary that these glass stands are loaded onto the railway cars by cranes in order to transport them. Such glass stands can move and lose their position during the transport, in other words, while the railway car is moving, so that they are very much in danger. A special problem results from the fact that only A-shaped glass stands can be used in order to avoid slipping and an imbalanced loading of the low-platform railway cars. L-shaped glass stands, which by nature cause an imbalanced loading of a wagon, cannot be used although the glass industry uses more and more of those L-shaped glass stands. As previously stated, it is especially disadvantageous that crane-type equipment is always necessary for loading, which might be available at the glassworks but in most cases not at the location of the buyer of such glass sheets. The EP-0548037-A1 shows a railway car with a completely over-all enclosed structure. Via roller construction it is possible to lift and lower the fold bellows. It is disadvantageous because it makes it difficult to drive through the area between two wagons and even makes it impossible for a vehicle that transports glass sheets. This is also true for the convoy of vehicles according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,491. Even though it is stated in the EP-0 463 505 A1 that the roof shall be constructed so that it can be raised, but that only concerns railway cars which are to transport cars on two levels. Once the upper level is occupied, the roof can be lowered again. A fixation of the cargo is not intended. The EP 0 672 566 A1 however shows a low-platform railway car for the transport of freight trucks. The roof structure can be widened to drive in or for loading in order to facilitate the loading process especially the driving onto the railway car. Objects with large dimensions, above all, glass stands cannot be transported, and in particular specialized vehicles cannot unload and pick up glass stands. The solutions according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,235,285 and 4,248,472 as well as EP 0 461 448 A1 also show only details concerning a roof that can be raised. The railway vehicle according to EP 0 924 130 A2 requires a separate crane in order to set the glass stand with the glass sheets onto the loading area. This results in considerable problems and disadvantages.
The invention therefore has the task to create a transport vehicle which can be loaded with objects having large dimensions and with that in particular transport stands for glass sheets without requiring a crane.
The task is solved according to the invention through the disclosed characteristics.
Because of the special construction of the transport vehicle it is possible to drive onto the entire loading area, to set the individual glass stands, regardless whether it is an A-shaped or a L-shaped glass stand, unto the loading area and to secure them there in such a fashion that the glass stands as well as the cargo, meaning the glass sheets, are secured during the transport. This could be a low-platform railway car as well as a low loading car which is accessible for specially equipped vehicles to drive onto, in this case Osila-glass-transport vehicles, in order to unload the glass stands as described and to secure them afterwards. It is especially advantageous that the loading as well as the unloading can be done without a crane, while the Osila-glass-transport vehicles are special equipment which are available at the glassworks because they are required for internal transport. They can also be used without a problem at the buyer""s location because they are usually available there, whereas for precautionary measures a large transport with multiple low-platform railway cars could also include an appropriate Osila-glass-transport vehicle which would be part of the transport and can therefore take care of the loading and unloading of the glass stands at the destination points. With this, a very versatile procedure or transport vehicle has been created, which, no matter whether it is a railway vehicle or a road vehicle, can be used for the specified tasks without requiring elaborate cranes or similar equipment. Due to the reinforcement boards which run in longitudinal direction an overloading of the actual loading area is ruled out or, in other words, it is not necessary to make the entire loading area appropriately stable which would make the loading of goods more difficult. Those reinforcement boards furthermore are designed in such a manner that a sliding of the glass stands on them and a sliding of the glass stands with the reinforcement boards is difficult, or better, impossible. A loading process with a standard osila-glass-transport vehicle with its elevated driver booth is advantageously possible because the structure that rests on the loading area features a roof that can be raised. During the loading of the loading area the roof will be raised accordingly so that the Osila-glass-transport vehicles can, without a problem, drive the glass stands cross the loading area and place them there. When the loading process is completed, the roof will be lowered and you are looking at an advantageously designed low-platform railway car or low-loader. The side walls are stabilized and connected with the loading area, or better, with the loading board in such a manner that they can be used as a bearing for the fixtures that are securing the loaded goods. Thus the side walls can, for example, be set in appropriate load-retaining stanchions in the loading board or be connected with it in another way in order to transfer the necessary force. It is also thinkable that there would be stands intended to stabilize the side walls which would rest on the diagonal carriers of the loading area thus representing the bearing for the actual load securing devices.
An especially advantageous design of such a bearing based on its limited space requirements would be such that the sidewalls, the roof and the loading area in regards of the required bearing for the load securing devices are coupled with each other to build one unit. The side walls, the roof and the loading area practically build rings on which the load securing devices can rest when they have been pushed against the glass sheet packages in order to effectively protect them during the transport.
Another useful design is such that the fittings to fixate the stands are air or hydraulic cylinders, which are able to swivel round and which are set on the lower loading board and rest on an U-shaped longitudinal carrier of the glass stand. The stand fixing devices prevent the glass stands from sliding back and forth on the loading area thus taking advantage of the U-shaped longitudinal carriers of the glass stands which are suited for the transport within the facility as well as the transport with the inner loaders. Furthermore, the stand fixing devices can also rest on the loading board or be attached to it so that they can be swiveled out of the way or moved up during the loading process. Because air or hydraulic cylinders are used, the space requirements are minimal whereas the air cylinders can take advantage of the pressurized air that is available on such low-platform railway cars or also on low-loaders.
If there is no pressurized air and no hydraulic pressure available, the fixation of the glass stands can take place mechanically for which the invention intends that the stand fixing devices are shaped as double wedges which can be fitted in U-shaped spaces in the loading board and in the glass stand or, in better words, can be braced between the two. Here, it is also thinkable that those double wedges feature a spring mechanism to achieve an additional bracing when put in place. Because the stands shall be transported with the Osila-glass-transport vehicles, the fixation can be facilitate for example via the Osila-glass-transport vehicles when those pull the double wedges into their bracing position so that the glass stands are loaded via the Osila-glass-transport vehicle.
In order to only raise the part of the roof under which the work takes place, it is advantageous that the roof of the structure is designed so that it can be raised in segments. Two glass transport stands can be set on common low-platform railway cars so that only half of the roof of such a low-platform railway car is raised during the loading process where as the other part remains in its low position.
A quasi automatic raising of the roof will be achieved by the fact that it features loading ramps that are fit to correspond with the Osila-glass-transport vehicles. The osila-glass-transport vehicle as well as the actual railway car, or better its roof, contain additional components that bring a quasi automatic raise of the roof when the Osila-glass-transport vehicles drives onto the loading area of the transport vehicle. Separate components to raise and lower the roof are therefore no longer necessary.
The individual low-platform railway cars or low loaders shall also be protected from the environment as a one unit convoy to avoid a soiling of the transported glass panes. For this reason, the loading area and the structure above it build a sealing unit as previously stated whereas the structure also seals against the environment. Due to the short couplings the individual cars can be closely coupled whereas the area between the cars that build the convoy can also be sealed in such a way that the low-platform railway cars are connected with each other with accordion shaped covers. This has the advantage that even during the transport you can walk or even drive from the loading area from one car to the other without making it necessary to close off the cars from each other. Even in curves, the enclosure is ensured, because this part is shaped like an accordion. The entire train therefore builds one complete even climatically controlled unit so that even highly sensitive glass can be transported from one plant to the other or from one place to the other.
The invention features special characteristics due to the fact that a transport vehicle or a type of transport vehicle has been created that can be advantageously loaded with glass stands without requiring cranes or similar loading aids. For loading or unloading, so-called Osila-glass-transport vehicles can be utilized advantageously, since they are used anyway within the plants and which bring the common A-shaped and also L-shaped glass stands onto the especially designed loading area where they are set into fittings that fixate and secure the stands in such a way that even over long transport distances damages to the appropriately fixated glass panes do not have to be feared. Based on the special features of the low-platform railway cars or also the low loaders they can also be used for the transport of other goods with large dimensions whereas again there is the advantage that the cargo as well as the transport fixtures or glass stands as such can be fixated and held on the loading area so that they cannot leave their intended position during the transport, on the other hand, they are set and fixated in a way that they survive curves as well as jerky transports without a problem.
Additional details and advantages of the invented object can be found in the following description of the corresponding drawings where a preferred design example is depicted with the necessary details and individual parts.
It is shown in: